Tobacco use and degenerative joint disease of the spine.

OBJECTIVE

To examine differences between tobacco users and nonusers who required surgical treatment for degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the spine.

METHODS

Two hundred randomly selected medical records of patients who had undergone surgery for DJD of the spine.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of tobacco users in the sample was significantly higher than the number of tobacco users in the general population, indicating greater incidence of DJD among tobacco users. The study demonstrated significant differences between tobacco users and nonusers regarding age, gender, type of occupation, number of imaging studies to diagnosis, and needs for pain management.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse practitioners who deal with education and treatment of patients at risk for spinal degenerative joint disease must consider tobacco use as a significant factor, especially regarding diagnostic studies and pain management.